UAE-based banker eyes 300 million euro investment in Marseille

MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) – A consortium of investors led by an Italian-Swiss banker is ready to invest between 250 million euros and 300 million euros ($277.35 million to $332.82 million) in French Ligue 1 soccer club Olympique Marseille (OM), online news site La Provence reported on Friday.

La Provence quoted United Arab Emirates-based banker Pablo Dana as saying in an interview that the investment would include an undisclosed sum for buying a majority shareholding in the club.

OM’s biggest shareholder, billionaire businesswoman Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, announced in April that she was selling her stake in the club, which finished 13th in the league and lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the French cup final.

“The sale price will never be revealed by our side, nor by Margarita Louis-Dreyfus. It is a three to five-year package for between 250 million and 300 million euros,” Dana told La Provence.

Dana said the fund’s investments could increase depending on how the club performed. The fund said negotiations still needed to be concluded and that if talks fell through there were other opportunities to invest in other European soccer clubs.